Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

Snuff Bottles Dangled on Chinese Market

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Bonham’s will be selling a very large collection of Chinese snuff bottles in Hong Kong as they try to capitalize on the demand for antiques in China. The first sale will take place in May, but it will take a full 10 biannual sales to disburse all of the 1720 Qing dynasty bottles that are estimated to be worth $32m, according to Scott Reyburn’s Bloomberg report:

“For the first time a top-quality collection is being dangled in front of Chinese mainland buyers across the border,” Sheaf said. “That’s where we’ll be focusing our marketing and advertising.” […]

“It’s a collection that was formed with a large amount of intelligence, integrity and a lot of money,” said the London- based dealer Robert Hall, a specialist who advised the Bloches.Continue Reading

Ordinary Chinese Buy Art Now

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China Daily puts a few facts behind the growth in the Chinese traditional art market in the 21st Century:

Setting aside the high-end art market, there has been a remarkable surge in the public’s interest in traditional art, ranging from porcelain, jewelry, to bronze wares and ancient wooden furnishings.

In response, auction houses such as China Guardian Auctions are arranging quarterly sales that are a platform for intermediate and lower-end art works and collectibles. Antique markets are booming too.

Game shows airing on China Central Television and provincial TV stations, featuring established collectors and celebrities building collections of traditional art have further encouraged interest in traditional art works. Continue Reading

China's Imperial Hunger

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The intoxicating feeling of power that comes with holding imperial items seems to be fueling the market for Chinese works of art. Who could blame a Chinese multi-millionaire from wanting that thrill? Scott Reyburn tallies up London’s Asia week sales data on Bloomberg. They started with a Qianlong Emperor’s seal making £3.6m last night at Sotheby’s.

“We’ve seen a really aggressive push from mainland Chinese collectors during the last season of sales,” Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s international head of Chinese ceramics and works of art, said in an interview. “What is new is that they’re buying things at the very highest level,” he said. The seal was “like holding Imperial power in the palm of your hand.”Continue Reading

The Capital of China is London

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[intro]For Chinese Art, At Least[/intro]

Fresh of strong sales in New York and Hong Kong, Asian art’s next stop on the world tour is the capital of the Chinese art trade, London. The Wall Street Journal‘s Margaret Struder has a quick preview of the happenings which open on Oct. 29th:

Since it was founded 12 years ago, Asian Art in London has become the biggest event of its kind in the world, says project director Virginia Sykes-Wright. She notes that London is attracting an increasing number of Asian buyers from growing collector regions such as mainland China, Korea and Vietnam.

Two participating galleries signify the wide diversity of Asian art on offer. Giuseppe Eskenazi will show seven rare Chinese paintings from the 12th-15th centuries, including a delicate work depicting a melon and grass, priced in the region of $500,000.Continue Reading

Chinese Paradox

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The International Herald Tribune‘s Souren Melikian reveals this fascinating contradiction at the heart of the global trade in Chinese antiquities and works of art: London is the undisputed center of the trade in the 21st Century even though the great British collectors of the 20th Century have disappeared:

The Bonhams sale scheduled on Nov. 5 is a farewell to the last remains of the admirable collections that were put together in Britain from the 1920s down to the 1960s by some of the most discerning connoisseurs in the Western world.Continue Reading

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